Sodium is undoubtedly important for the body but just a little amount of it. Having too much can lead to a number of health problems including hypertension and heart disease.
According to USDA's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, people aged 14 and above shouldn't have more than 2,300 mg per day of sodium, which is just a teaspoon of salt. However, our daily salt intake is much more than that.
We think that without salt, food will become tasteless but what we do not know is our sodium intake comes from various other products as well. So, you can easily keep a check on your salt-intake but before that find out how much amount you're actually consuming.
If you see that it is more than the amount required, control it in the following ways without hating your food:
Skip ketchup
Try and avoid ketchup, soy sauce and BBQ sauce. They contain a lot of sodium. You can rather go for the mustard sauce as it contains less sodium. Try and go through the labels to compare which contains low amount of sodium before buying.
Buy unsalted butter
You may not know but regular butter contains a fair amount of sodium. Moreover, if you are making or baking something, you would definitely use extra salt to it which will increase your salt intake. So, it is always better to go for unsalted butter.
Buy unsalted nuts
Nuts are a really healthy snack but when you buy salted nuts it is like buying a pack of sodium. Go for unsalted nuts always.
Say 'no' to pickles
Well, it is very difficult to say 'no' to pickles as they taste great but if you want to control your salt-intake, it's a must. They are packed with salt. It is better to avoid pickles as much as you can.
Read labels
Last, but not the least, always, read the labels before buying. Make it a habit because sodium can be a part of the food you least expected. If you see the sodium content is high in something but it is absolutely essential to take, try to check some alternatives and buy the one with low sodium.
